Adrian Grigoriu wrote an article in eBizq titled Enterprise Architecture in Higher Education in Nov 2011 – http://www.ebizq.net/blogs/ea_matters/2011/11/enterprise-architecture-and-higher-education.php. I have been meaning to write a supportive post to Adrian and finally have time. In a nutshell, I agree and Adrian’s makes 3 excellent points for why Enterprise Architecture should be taught. Adrian’s short article is worth the read and there is an extensive discussion on LinkedIn about this topic here.
What EA could bring to the MBA:
1. EA may offer generic models or typical architectures for the enterprise. EA comes with the Capability map concept which unfortunately is not standardised or mature enough to be employed yet.
2. May provide the framework that links and integrates all the tiers of the Enterprise together: business process, technology and organization. That is a “true” EA framework. Currently there are a few meta-models that are an expression of the framework rather than the framework itself.
3. Last but not least, EA would provide the method of implementing the target enterprise state in alignment to strategy. Existing EA methods propose various processes to do exactly that.
Over the past month, I had the opportunity to build a new one week module on Enterprise Architecture for a 13 week Technology Management course. The course is targeted at business management students and I ran into exactly what Adrian pointed out:
The EA concept should be taught in any business study. Unfortunately the body of knowledge is too fragmented and incomplete right now to arm the student with a method that delivers results.
I reached out to my Enterprise Architect community on Twitter. My request for guidance started a great Twitter conversation with Nick Malik, Richard Veryard, Martin Howitt and Aleks Buterman about the approach to constructing the module and the elements that should be included. Many thanks to these esteemed Enterprise Architects. I continue to marvel that I am able to connect with all of you with the power of technology and Twitter in particular.
Here are a few choice tweets:
@richardveryard : @leodesousa @nickmalik Do you want your students to passively consume #entarch services or to collaborate effectively with #entarch experts?
@richardveryard : @nickmalik ‘s solution to @leodesousa ‘s requirement assumes the goal is to appreciate the difference between #entarch and its absence.
@nickmalik : @richardveryard @leodesousa Yes, as foundation. Build understanding as first step to empower collaboration between biz and #entarch
@aleksb6 : @leodesousa @richardveryard @nickmalik I’m trying to cope with the idea that #value of a #planned approach needs to be explained. #entarch
@richardveryard : @leodesousa @nickmalik my idea of a learning objective is that the students learn to do something, not that they are persuaded of something.